I’ve been feeling a little ambivalent about this, and figured I’d get a second opinion. Lately I’ve been taking the third ave contraflow lane from PPG up to Grant. There are always several delivery trucks parked in this lane around 9 am, unloading at Point Park and surrounding businesses. I don’t think they ought to be in the bike lane, but there also isn’t anywhere else great for them to be and this lane isn’t, in my opinion, the kind of essential bike infrastructure that the Penn Ave. lane is.

This is not in a business district, so it may be considered parking in a bike lane…mire to the point, the push back attitude emphasizing automobike rights is quite telling…from Nextdoor:
[I knew Richard Burton lives in Greenfield, but Liz, too?!]

Elizabeth Taylor, Greenfield
Car parked *entirely* on the sidewalk
I’m wondering if there’s anything to be done about a resident who parks her car *entirely* on the sidewalk in front of her house. None of the wheels are on the road. I have to walk in the street to get around it every time I walk to or from my bus stop. Granted, it’s not on a busy street, but that’s beside the point, I think.

22h ago · 13 neighborhoods in General
ThankReplyReply
Brady Rainey
Brady Rainey, Squirrel Hill South·22h ago
You can ask her to not do that.

Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor, Greenfield·22h ago
Not with this neighbor. Everyone who’s lived on our block for more than a couple of years knows better than to engage with her.

Brady Rainey
Brady Rainey, Squirrel Hill South·22h ago
Well in that case I would say alert the police and have her towed. Paying to get her car back once or twice should deter her.

Angel Rodrigues
Angel Rodrigues, Greenfield·20h ago
Or take into consideration that cars get smashed while being parked all the time and maybe she is trying to save herself the huge hassle and bill. You can walk around it.

Megan Reed
Megan Reed, Greenfield·20h ago
Yea tell that to the person who may be in a wheelchair.

Angel Rodrigues
Angel Rodrigues, Greenfield·20h ago
Do you see people in wheelchairs going by that car? I am willing to bet the answer is no.

Charles Christen
Charles Christen, Hazelwood·20h ago
Sidewalks are not made to and intended to be a place to park a car. That is the fact.

Angel Rodrigues
Angel Rodrigues, Greenfield·20h ago
It’s also a fact that cars (including mine a few months ago) get smashed and totaled just for being parked on the streets.

Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor, Greenfield·20h ago
Angel Rodrigues, I understand your concern, and I don’t mind those cars that are parked partially on the sidewalk but allow a pedestrian (me) room to pass safely. This car is entirely blocking the sidewalk, which aside from being inconvenient makes it unsafe for a pedestrian to pass. Not to mention anyone with mobility issues would have a hard time getting around it.

Angel Rodrigues
Angel Rodrigues, Greenfield·20h ago
I get that. I really do, but I am also coming from the point of view that a totalled car is super expensive. I would suggest a note on her car asking her to just leave room on the sidewalk for walking past while not removing herself from it entirely.

Allie Laren
Allie Laren, Greenfield·Edited 20h ago
I was actually just thinking to myself how irritating this is while walking the other day. Some neighborhoods this is unavoidable ( like the south side slopes) but there is no reason for it in this situation. Having to step into the street while they treat the sidewalk like their personal driveway. And a heavy car day after day damages the sidewalk by making it a tripping hazard for people who might have mobility limitations. I would suggest snapping a picture and submitting a ticket to 311.

Alex Gossett
Alex Gossett, Swisshelm Park·18h ago
For decades, on many narrow streets, cars have parked on the sidewalks to avoid being sideswiped. If there are no elderly or disabled persons in the area then it’s not a big deal and everyone accepts it. But our population is aging and things are changing and what may have been OK in the past may no longer OK – an elderly or disabled person can’t easily or safely use the street. Give the owner a heads up, leave an anonymous note on the windshield letting them know that they need to leave room on the sidewalk for someone to pass. If they continue to park illegally report the car and let the police handle it.

Rose Bagin
Rose Bagin, Squirrel Hill South·18h ago
Just call the police. I’ve had this experience and they came immediately.
Pedestrians have full right to use the sidewalk.you’ve been too patient!

Edie Whipple
Edie Whipple, South Oakland·18h ago
Plain and simple, it’s against the law. At the PPA, officials say the local law banning sidewalk parking (3353A12) is “the same city-wide and enforced equally.” State law 75 Pa.C.S. 3353 also prohibits parking on sidewalks.

Smyth Welton
Smyth Welton, Greenfield·18h ago
On Loretto?

Matthew Graver
Matthew Graver, Squirrel Hill South·16h ago
Write a friendly note about where she’s parking and place it on her windshield. Leave your first name and contact number. Maybe she’ll be willing to discuss it with you.

HJ Snyder
HJ Snyder, Greenfield·16h ago
Yes, this is on Loretto. From what I was told by a neighbor, a complaint was filed with 311 at least once. I believe the car is not working, but agree it should be parked in her driveway or on the street. My sidewalk is broken up from all the people who decided it’s a parking lot. Parking on the sidewalk is a problem on Glen Lytle and I’m sure numerous other streets. I have had to walk on the icy street numerous times in the winter because of cars parked half on the sidewalk. I have even witness someone visually impaired walk right into a car on the sidewalk on McCaslin. Cars do NOT belong on or even partially on the sidewalk impeding people from walking on them as they are intended. If the police come out they may have to tag all the cars that are also parked partially on the sidewalk.

Eric Williams
Eric Williams, Hazelwood·15h ago
Public right of way. Period. Get it ticketed and/or towed. I really hate when people do that. (I’m looking at you, Allegheny Fence, and other offenders on Irvine St.)

Eric Williams
Eric Williams, Hazelwood·15h ago
Another demographic too often forgotten: people pushing strollers or walking with small children. Get the cars off the sidewalks and keep them off.

Caroline Mitchell
Caroline Mitchell, Squirrel Hill South·3h ago
311 with the location and request that a police officer ticket the car. this also works for cars blocking people’s driveways.

Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor, Greenfield·1h ago
The car runs, at least minimally. The owner shifts its location a few feet every couple of months. This is the first time she’s parked it entirely on the sidewalk, though.

Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor, Greenfield·1h ago
I will try the anonymous note first. I’d rather resolve the problem as peacefully as I can. But it’s good to know my options if that doesn’t work.

Smyth Welton
Smyth Welton, Greenfield·1h ago
I was walking past the day she was having a tow truck park it there. It is definitely a disabled vehicle.

Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor, Greenfield·1h ago
Ah. I’ve never *seen* it being moved, I’ve just observed that it was moved.

What isn’t mentioned in the above thread is that it seems that all the houses on at least one block of Loretto has a driveway. on the more narrow section it seems that no one has a driveway/there isn’t an alley behind, so while I feel for people worried that their car would get smashed if they weren’t on the sidewalk, the solution relies on re-designing the street (traffic humps?) to slow down car speeds and/or enforcement of speed/stopsign running by insurance. But neither of those will happen.